


the line where beauty meets pain is where you’ll stay

by VITRI0L



Series: the branches of time are withering [9]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Tales From The SMP - Fandom
Genre: (that’s why it’s tagged as major character death), Ambiguous/Open Ending, Amnesia, Cleetus (TFTSMP), Gen, Ghosts, James (TFTSMP), Sad Ending, Temporary Character Death, The InBetween - Freeform, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Winged Alexis | Quackity, no beta we die like karl, short oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VITRI0L/pseuds/VITRI0L
Summary: Those Karl meets along his journeys, though they all seem to die, they never seem to leave.They haunt him.•••“And the voices bounced off the high walls, dancing through the long corridors and echoing throughout the empty castle.”
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, in context of the lore only
Series: the branches of time are withering [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120232
Comments: 4
Kudos: 140





	the line where beauty meets pain is where you’ll stay

**Author's Note:**

> WOOOOO, I’M ON A ROLL TODAY BABY! POG!

Karl stood in the courtyard, hand dancing high above his head as his pale skin brushed against the warmth which the sun provided.

He reached up a little higher. 

The pallid skin stretched across feeble bones burned a little more.

He let his hand drop slowly to his side.

It was so bright.

There was a birch tree that stood before him, stretching further into the sky than the brunet could ever hope to. It’s white leaves whisper against the sweet nothings of the wind and the pale lanterns which adorn every branch creaked ever so slightly.

It was so _bright._

And Karl stood right before the gentle giant, wearing with clothes as pale as the marble castle that encased them. 

A purple book laid amongst the roots of the tree, shimmering gently in the soft sunlight.

A dark oak swing set stood tall behind him, weathered from age and time.

The two swings swayed.

And the voices bounced off the high walls, dancing through the long corridors and echoing throughout the empty castle.

There were calls for a butler and the sound of rushed footsteps.

Laughter rung clearly, persistent and true.

Shouting from a myriad of voices, arguing constantly.

The loud and fiery jokes from an elderly voice.

Oddly sexual comments from a proclaimed nudist.

The gently giggling from a young woman with a soft voice.

And the sound of footsteps, passing to and fro, here and there.

Sometime Karl thought he could see them. Sometimes, if he looked hard enough, the time traveler would swear he saw a masked man with raven hair sneak through the courtyard with a steampunk dressed fisherman who threw nothing but insults the whole time.

Karl felt a sharp stab his heart as his throat clenched tightly. 

Oh how he wished to call to them.

None of them could hear the brunet, however.

They were the shadows of all the people Karl had met through his travels and no matter if the man liked them or not, the ghost hung around, uncaring of his opinion.

They were loud, large than life, really.

Yet, they roamed the InBetween with the ignorance and confidence of illusions. Joyful and true, when Karl couldn’t feel more opposite than that. 

All the people he had met, they all haunt him. 

Karl felt more alone than ever.

But, he wanted to stay. Stay in the world between realities, stay with the echo’s of his past friends. Because at least in here, nothing was lost to time. The brunet could remember every detail, every memory that was ever important, it was accessible to him in the marbled castle.

Unlike when he was transported home, and he struggled to remember the people closest to him.

All memories just out of reach, hazy like Karl needed glasses to see but couldn’t find any that would help.

Out there, Quackity and Sapnap kept losing meaning to the brunet. 

But in the pallid world, devoid of any true colour besides the flaming sky, they still meant the world to him. 

Karl spent his time on the swing...

~~(“Why’s there a second swing?”~~

~~“You know why...”)~~

...and waited for the ghosts to come by. Waited for them to laugh, to shout, to dance and to run. He waited to see them act as if they were still alive and as if they never left. 

The time traveler sat on the swing, under the warmth of the lovely sun, watching those phantoms carry on as they’d never stopped.

And sometimes, if he was lucky, it would almost seem like they could see him too.

~~(James peered over to the birch tree, faded eyes looking at the birch tree in wonder. They fall lower and lower, and Karl holds his breath.~~

~~When those eyes fall on him, the brunet could almost see recognition dance beneath that deep surfaces.~~

~~“What the fuck you starin’ at, bitch?” Cleetus piped up, sounding annoyed.~~

~~“I... don’t know,” James admitted sheepishly.~~

~~They leave.~~

~~Karl’s heart was nearly leaping out of his chest as he let himself believe.)~~

The InBetween.

It always kicked Karl out too fast.

And he was left with incomprehensible memories that didn’t make sense.

Left in a confused state as a less and less familiar winged man with a blue beanie and another, a dark haired, tan skinned man stay by his quickly deteriorating side.

Karl struggled through the responsibility that he’d been given, the ever growing weight of the world growing ever heavier.

He struggled until he was thrown back into the unpredictable loop that was time.

But the ghosts, they stayed. 

Constant and static, haunting the unusually empty castle that Karl wished he could inhabit.

And there they would stay.

Until everyone that Karl loved would end up in those pallid halls.

Himself included.

**Author's Note:**

> i fallen into a classical music phase & it’s so easy to write well listening to it. crazy...
> 
> more TFTSMP bc that’s the kind of content i need lol
> 
> hope you’re well and safe <3
> 
> have a good evening!


End file.
